 | Rhythms of the Earth by Morwen Two Feathersposted by Susan Meeker-Lowry, Exclusive AccessMonday, September 14th 2009 @ 1:49 PM (not yet rated) |
As Gaian consciousness grows among members of our modern culture, so has controversy arisen about how Modern people have drawn from indigenous or traditional ways of being in connection with the Earth. Because the culture of our upbringing has systematically devalued the Earth except as a “natural resource” for human exploitation, those of us who have begun to awaken to our connection to Gaia have had to look to other cultures for inspiration and models of how to express this connection in our daily lives. And at times this borrowing has been seen as stealing the ways of indigenous people.
This issue has come up in the drumming world, too. Perennial questions arise about whether white people have the right to play African (or other “ethnic”) drums, or the proper way to show respect for the traditional cultures from which drums and rhythms come. Who owns the rhythms of the Earth?
The rhythms of the Earth have been expressed musically in a wild variety of different patterns, timbres, and levels of complexity in many distinct cultures around the world. It is not difficult to discern different styles of drumming and associate them with their cultures of origin. When we hear Native American drumming, for example, we know that it sounds different from West African drumming, which is different again from the drumming of India, or Southern Italy, or Japan. Are these differences the direct expression of the Earth’s voice in those particular places, or reflections of human social arrangements that are rooted in those places? From Gaia’s perspective it matters not at all, for these are the same thing. Indigenous people have communed directly with the rhythms of the land that is their home, evolving stable repertoires of traditional rhythms and songs that express fundamental relationships between the people and their environment. When a group of people takes root in a particular place on Earth and stays there for generations, a specific rhythmic musical tradition appears and develops.
The source of variation in rhythmic musical style across cultures may often be detected by attuning to the rhythms of the Earth where the music originates – the animals and plants, seasons, light and dark, landscape (mountains vs. ocean, etc.) and so on – as well as the social rhythms which directly connect to these in indigenous cultures. Recent research makes explicit connections between features of the Earth and a culture’s music, stating “the system of expressive means of this or that culture correlates with its geographical landscape and the ethno-social conditions… there is a distinct correspondence between pitch, rhythm, and timbre of the ethnic music and climactic conditions of the region where a given ethnic group lives.” (www.musictherapyworld.net, December 2003 issue, “Music as medicine: the Adyghs’ case”, by Alla N. Sokolava.)
At the same time, common archetypal rhythmic patterns appear in many unrelated cultures all over the planet. This is not surprising, considering the basic structure and rhythmic nature of the human body that we all share, as well as the laws of physics and mathematics, which are not culture-dependent. This common ground of being that transcends culture is a rich source of rhythmic revelation, in that it is accessible to us even if we are not part of a land-based indigenous culture. For modern people seeking to reconnect to Gaia, these archetypal rhythmic patterns are a route to entrainment with Her heartbeat.
The study and practice of traditional rhythms from indigenous cultures is a reliable method of accessing these archetypal rhythms. After all, indigenous cultures have spent centuries developing and practicing these rhythmic patterns, which have remained unchanged for many generations, because they work. It seems silly to reinvent the rhythmic wheel, especially since the same research cited above also suggests that “Medical [i.e. healing] characteristics are comprised not so much in tunes themselves or their melodic intonations and rhythms, as in people who regard them as curative.” That is, regardless of the origin of the music, its healing power is rooted in people’s experience and beliefs about it rather than in the specific characteristics of the music itself. We can tap into the healing power of traditional rhythms even without membership in the tribes from which they originate, by virtue of our intention and beliefs.
However, it has proven to be the case that many Modern people utilize these traditional tools in ways that are disrespectful to their original cultures. There are two related dynamics underlying this, in my view: the historical reality in which indigenous cultures have been repeatedly dominated and oppressed even while being mined for valuables (of which traditional music is one), and the resistance of Modern people to externally imposed structure (which traditional rhythms certainly are!) in a do-your-own-thing culture that emphasizes individuality. In this context, many Modern people who are intuitively drawn to drumming take a workshop or two to “get” a couple of basics, and then take what they have learned and change it to suit themselves, often using traditional instruments and sometimes even wearing traditional clothing and/or jewelry, and in the process misrepresenting a whole culture. (A similar thing happens with other types of traditional knowledge, as well.)
Much of the modern drumming movement expresses this “do-your-own-thing” mentality. Many drum circles are populated with people who are dedicated to the god of personal self-expression. The notion seems to be that with a minimum of instruction on technique, each individual can access the archetypal rhythms simply by following their own heart and body. And while this may be true in an abstract sense, in real life this sort of drumming is not a fully satisfying experience. That’s because this approach is missing the core piece that indigenous people know, and that those with Gaian consciousness understand: The healing and transformative power of drumming lies not in expressing one’s ego-self, but in weaving connections with others in community and by extension with All That Is.
Immersion in the study of traditional rhythms is one reliable way to access this deeper experience, but it is not the only one. Another way, which bypasses specific traditional cultures and goes right to the archetypal rhythms, is the TaKeTiNa rhythm method. (For more information, see www.taketina.com). Yet while TaKeTiNa does not teach the traditional rhythms of indigenous cultures, the method does echo some of the key features of such cultures, particularly the emphasis on the group context of learning, and the reliance on repetitive, body-based experience rather than ideas. The profound and ecstatic experience of TaKeTiNa comes when the individual ego-self dissolves into the rhythm being carried by the group.
There is still another way available to modern folks. Although most of us did not grow up in an indigenous tribe, the nature of culture-creation is that traditions take root whenever a group of people makes a commitment to do things together in a particular way, and sustains that commitment over time. When we come together in rhythm, not just once in a while but repeatedly and consistently, we co-create a field or container in which the archetypal rhythmic patterns evolve into songs that have meaning. The group comes to feel like a community that is deeply connected, and the shared meaning is the seed of a new subculture.
I am grateful to be part of a community that has drummed and danced together for over fifteen years. Over the years our community has sent out spores (in the form of community members who have moved elsewhere, or visitors who have brought our traditions back to their homes) that have seeded the growth of a national subculture. We’ve run into our share of questions about our relationship to indigenous traditions. But most of the controversy has abated in the face of our sheer persistence, our commitment to both learning about traditional cultures and working together to create our own traditions. We know that as cells in Gaia’s body we can access Her heartbeat individually and directly; we also know that by learning from already-existing rhythmic musical traditions, along with committing to our own community process, we are creating a way for the Rhythms of the Earth to be a force for healing modern society.
From Volume 2, No. 1 & 2
Photo: Duncan Eagleson (c) 2003
